The top mistakes in Exorcist: The Beginning http://www.moviemistakes.com/film4486 en Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:55:22 +0000 69523 As the priest descends down the rope ladder into the church for the first time he is handed a lantern by his friend. In the next shot the camera is looking down and you can see that the friend is holding the lantern. Then the next person goes down the same rope ladder and the friend is not holding the lantern, where did the lantern go? 102666 In the very beginning of the film, the priest is walking through a battlefield that contains the bodies of Roman soldiers (they are wearing distinctive Roman uniforms and armor), which dates the battle no later than 6th century AD. He is holding a rosary in his hand, but the rosary wasn't introduced into the Catholic Church until the 13th century. 76427 Father Gionetti gives Father Merrin a copy of the Rituale Romanum (Roman Ritual). (The administration of exorcism is in Title X of the Rituale Romanum.) The title of the book embossed on its leather cover is "Roman Ritual", in English. Later in the film, Father Merrin asks Joseph to help him by reading passages of the book, and we are shown a couple of printed pages, the text of which is also in English. The Rituale Romanum would have been printed in Latin in 1949, when the film is set, because non-Latin translations of liturgical texts were not authorized until the promulgation of the Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) by Pope Paul VI on December 4, 1963, as part of the Second Vatican Council. 69691 As Merrin and Sarah are sitting on the bed about to kiss, the opening of the mosquito net around Joseph's bed changes several times. 136029 In the original film, several priests discuss who should do the exorcism. Merrin was chosen because he had experience (supposedly this film), and that the exorcism lasted a month and it nearly killed him. In this film, the exorcism appeared to have lasted only a few hours and, although I'm sure he was in very real danger, he didn't seem the worse for wear after it was over.